Washing the TR

as long as the car is not really warm you may open the engine hood and put a big plastic on the engine. but not do this when the engine is warm

 

Air hose for fine sand/gravel at the rear. Bucket and many wet towels. No garden hose.

 

^ Really? You guys don’t drive in the rain?


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Buy a "Water Deionizer" filter and always rinse your car with the water from it. It will be the best wash you have ever had. Never a water spot even if you don't dry the car.

 

The plastic sheet method works well for me. The only other advice I’d offer is to go for a good drive after thoroughly drying the car. Be sure to clean and dry the bottoms of the doors.


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Agree, I have this one

https://crspotless.com/product/dic-20/


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Also when drying any expensive car where you are trying to preserve the paint and not add scratches you should use a garden blower of some kind. Works fabulous fyi. I have a big heavy duty gas leaf blower and I can dry the whole car very quickly.

 

A moderate amount of water is no issue. There are a host of things that do not like detergent.

 

I always thought the best way is to wash the car before starting it, so the water can enter the engine bay when it is cold. And after you finish, take the car out for a drive, so the engine can get warm and all the water can evaporate completely.

By the way, the TR is absolutely the most hardest car to wash (or actually dry), that I've ever owned.

 

Tried a leaf blower?

 

The Milwaukee leaf blower is honestly the best for drying. I’d put it in the “must have” category. Saves so much time and does a fantastic job.

 

Blowers drive the water into nooks and crannies. Frequent bucket washing with many fresh towels to clean and dry. Rotate your towel to pick up the dirt rather than rubbing it in. Detailing spray helps a lot to lubricate and act as a surfactant.

Occasional clay bar - only if needed.
Wax.

NO MICROFIBER TOWELS.

In 25 yrs of ownership, it only saw the garden hose one time…. after a trip up the alcan on a partially open flatbed trailer.

YMMV

 

I don’t really have a problem with that. The whole point is to reduce how much you touch the car. Touch equals abrasion to the paint. So limiting this as much as possible will keep the paint in perfect condition. I try not to use towels ever on the paint. I save the towels for the windows.

 

I will buy a leaf blower and see how it goes. I have a little air compressor, that I'm using for that purpose, but will try a leaf blower for sure.

Does anybody have Paint protection film on its TR? It's my only car without PPF and I still haven't decided if I should repaint the front of the car because of the stone chips and put PPF on it or keep the original (obviously damaged) paint.

 

I have the ppf film installed because the paint on my car was perfect and wanted to keep it that way. If yours is already chipped and is the original paint I would leave it alone. More valuable kept original in my opinion.

 

I am proud of my rock chips. I put every one there.

By the time I'm dead,with luck I will have blasted all the paint off the front of the car.

Everyone will know I had fun.

 

Original paint? Why worry about it. Car is 30 years old! Rifledriver will tell you they were touched up off the boat from shipping. These cars are far from virgins!! But very enjoyable.

 

By the way. Going fast makes the chips worse so drive slow. Real slow.

 

there is one of the rear deck vents that seems to dump water right into the left bank ecu (i think - something electronic), so i usually wash it hot, i never hose down the deck lid that much. i lightly spray it, and then quickly dry it, and then run the car.

 

Check out AMMO NYC on youtube. There's some useful info here but also a lot of fear mongering about how this is done.

 

I use plastic over the engine, but as I am paranoid that I will screw up and forget to remove the plastic, I have a yellow coiled wire I put over the steering wheel as a reminder before I install the plastic. I also use the leaf blower drying method with detail spray.

 

I have a feeling you guys aren’t going to like this…

I make no recommendations, but this is how I wash the car, with good results:

1. Start with a cold car. Clean the wheels. I’m hooked on that stuff that turns purple. It works better than anything I’ve tried before. A few brands make it.
2. Open the engine cover and hose down its underside, and the whole engine and engine bay, with a LOW-pressure foam sprayer attached to the garden hose. Use a brush to agitate any particularly dirty parts.
3. Rinse off the foam from the engine cover and engine bay. LOW pressure, like a heavy rain, no more. Close the engine cover.
4. Wash the car with the garden hose and the two-bucket method. Use the foam sprayer here too. Pay no mind to water going into the engine bay.
5. Dry the car. I won’t tell you how. Others have made good suggestions. I haven’t found a method I love yet. I might try one of those deionizers plus a leaf blower.
6. Open the engine bay and blow it dry it with compressed air or leaf blower, taking care to blow away the water that has filled the indentations on top of the engine block. Otherwise dirt gets left behind in those indentations when that water evaporates during the next step. The next step will make all the water go away, but there’ll be visible water spots on everything that’s black if you don’t clear away most of it with air. Deionizer to the rescue again?
7. Drive the car until every part of it is thoroughly warmed up, including brakes.

I am only a sample size of one, but I haven’t hurt anything yet.

 

If water gets inside the engine bay trough the grills that's not a big deal. After all, it's the same if the car is left parked during a heavy rain.

Try a good ceramic coating for the wheels. You will clean them perfectly with the garden hose for 30 seconds.